Don't Touch Oliver Queen's Woman
by Calie1
Summary: A hand up a skirt, a fist in a face, and the truth finally comes out.


Chloe cried out and jumped. Not at the hand that made its way up her skirt, the response to that had been more of a gasp. No, the scream that came from her was seeing the sleaze ball who was connected to the arm, get punched in the face and land face first on the ground. The body connected to that arm was none other than Oliver Queen. She jumped backwards as the man hit the ground. "Oliver!"

But he didn't even seem to hear her. Instead he twisted the man's arm behind his back and hauled him up off the floor and onto his knees. HIs head lolled to the side before he straightened it, blinking and seeming to focus again. His eyes looked up and settled on her own; blood seeped out the corner of his mouth.

"I think you owe her an apology," Oliver sneered into the man's ear as he bent over behind him.

The man's face twisted in disgust and he spit at her feet. A mix of blood and spit just missing her shoes. She scrunched her face and moved backwards, worried he might give it another shot. Chances are he wouldn't though, not when Oliver twisted his arm, making the man arch and scream in pain.

"Apologize," Oliver said through gritted teeth. He paused, and when the man made no sound he twisted again, fully intending to break his arm if he didn't speak soon.

"Sorry!"

With another sneer Oliver released the man's arm, thrusting him forward so that he fell face first on the floor. As he stepped around the man he grabbed Chloe's arm and pulled her away from the staring crowd and the hushed whispers.

"What do you think you are doing?!" she said in a low voice, hoping not to attract any more attention or suspicion than they already had. When she yanked at her arm his grip tightened and he continued to pull her away.

"I know you're mad," Oliver said simply, and dragged her the rest of the way until they exited.

Once away from eyes and ears, Chloe planted her feet into the ground and yanked at her arm. This time he released her. "Damn right I'm mad! Undercover Oliver. Which means you don't know me...I don't know you."

"I know what it means," he seethed, "but when we came up with this plan it didn't include you having a set of hands up your skirt."

"Well obviously..." Chloe said sarcastically and rolled her eyes. Instead of plunging on she took a moment to step back and assess the situation. She hadn't been happy about the turn of events either, and in fact she was slightly grateful she man had gotten what he deserved. Chances are she hadn't been the first woman to unknowingly get groped in such a crude way. She also knew that Oliver wouldn't just stand by and let that happen to her. But it was his reaction, or the strength of his reaction, that bothered her. It wasn't just simply Oliver grabbing the guy, or pushing him away. He punched him, tortured him into apologizing and almost broke the guy's arm. Then there was the matter of their not so public relationship. People recognized Oliver Queen; those that didn't recognize him before the fight noticed him after. "But that outburst...you're the Green Arrow," Chloe whispered harshly, "torturing a guy into submission isn't exactly part of a hero's personality."

Oliver stepped forward and narrowed his eyes. Slightly annoyed that as usual she only saw him as the Green Arrow, as if that was his only persona, as if he wasn't a normal person. "I wasn't always the Green Arrow Chloe. I'm still a man. And when I put my fist into that guy's face it had nothing to do with saving the world and everything to do with him putting his hands on you."

"And those people in there?!" She threw her hand out, pointing back to the club they had just left. "The people that just saw Oliver Queen beat the shit out of some guy because he put his hand up some girl's dress and then drag said girl out?"

"Doesn't this girl have a name?" Oliver asked cockily, her eyes narrowed, but he wasn't fazed.

"She doesn't now...but give them time...I'm sure in a day or two she will." Chloe wasn't even sure if he caught her hint. Sure, people would say 'some unknown woman', but at some point, if it got into the papers, especially if picture were taken, then 'some unknown woman' would soon be 'Chloe Sullivan'. "If someone gets lucky enough or is smart enough, and regardless of how much you deny it, it's going to be everywhere. And this thing," she motioned between them, "won't be a secret any more."

"So what?!" he exclaimed. "So fucking what?! So yeah, undercover moments might be blown, but at least I don't have to worry about people try to molest you when I'm sitting right there!" She seemed slightly take aback by his outburst, but that didn't stop him. "I am so fucking tired of worrying about what other people think. What about what I want? What about being able to go out in public, take you somewhere, go on an actual date? I don't care what people think. You know what I want? Just to say you're my girlfriend and be done with it!" Silence, that's all he heard once he was through with his outburst. Then slowly he started to realize his mistake. Things with Chloe, they were different; she was different. He knew she didn't want the publicity, the labels, the eyes. And most of all, she wanted to keep it simple. Her feelings for him were real, that he was sure, but she didn't want things complicated. The problem was, even though making her publicly his girlfriend would significantly complicate their lives, he still didn't care.

Chloe was normally a very observant person. She never missed a detail. But with Oliver, or at least her relationship with Oliver, she missed everything. In the beginning she was oblivious to his attraction to her, even though she had been attracted to him for some time. Then she was foolish enough to think they could keep it about fun and stay friends. She had convinced herself of that, even when it should have been so obvious that her feelings were changing, that the change in his own were so obvious to everyone but herself. Then when they had both come clean, admitting that it was more than friendship, more than friends with benefits, more than just fun, that they cared for each other, wanted to be with one another exclusively, she somehow had made herself believe keeping it a secret still was for the best, that it could remain that way. Somehow she hadn't seen how illogical that was. Now here she was, hearing Oliver's real feelings on the secrecy of their relationship, and she had to wonder how she hadn't seen his unhappiness with their status. One of the first things she had to do was stop being so oblivious when it came to her relationship with Oliver. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"

He was taken off guard by her simple question, but he quickly recovered. "Because it isn't what you want."

She came to another realization at that moment, their relationship and consistently been about what she wanted. Just fun, no strings was her wish, the secrecy, that was her wish, but it wasn't about her. "I'm....I'm scared of the repercussions," she admitted honestly. "It doesn't mean it isn't what I want."

The softness of her tone took the fight from him. With a sigh he stepped forward and cradled her face with both of his hands, tilting it back so that she was looking at him. "I know. But I'm not planning on going anywhere, I'm in this for the long haul with you. How long can we keep this up?" She nodded, in what he hoped was agreement. "I know it won't be easy, and there are things you won't like about it, but I want this with you. I want to be able to do the normal things with you Chloe."

"We're not normal," she argued weakly.

"I know," he agreed softly. "But we're still human."

"Okay," Chloe said firmly and nodded her head.

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "Okay? Like okay, no more secrets? No more hiding behind closed doors?"

She smiled at his shock. It was only fair that she gave in, gave a bit of herself, since he had given so much of himself to her. "Well not ALL the secrets, green bean," she said with a wink. He grinned down at her and then suddenly he was kissing her, passionate and deep. The kind of kiss she normally would have pulled away from when out in public. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. When they finally parted she was smiling up at him, body pressed against his own, and already considering heading back to his place. It was closer after all. "You do realize you are going to have a handful on your hands though, right? I mean, you'll be lucky if this guy doesn't press charges Oliver."

"Trust me," he whispered and pressed a kiss to her lips, "I've been in more trouble then this before."

When he kissed her again she decided to put off worrying about the press and the possible knocking of the local Metropolis police on his door. Most would agree with her and Oliver's version of events. If not, Oliver had a pretty handy girlfriend when it came to computers. It was amazing how some things just disappeared.


End file.
